hoping for a parasite

Do you have any big goals for the week? Something daunting on your to-do list you are really hoping to accomplish?

Here is mine:

I am now in the possession of ten (yes, TEN) specimen containers that need to be filled and returned to the local children's hospital. Kembe had some bloodwork done last week at the free clinic. It came back with some wonky levels of eonosphilsomethingorother. The doctor said it could be an indicator of some serious conditions, including leukemia. Or it could just be a parasite.

Awesome. I'm hoping for a parasite.

So, this week I will be collecting samples to search for something that indicates the presence of an unwelcome guest. This means I have to collect every deposit Kembe makes, scoop it into a vial, and then drive it to St. Joseph's for analysis. Which is SUPER easy, you know? Just popping four kids into the car and making a 20 minute drive at the drop of a . . . well . . . you know.

Which begs the question, how much more can we traumatize this poor kid? Because in addition to surviving an earthquake and being ripped away from everything he knows, he is now living with a woman who makes him poop into a plastic bin and then seemingly plays with the poop in the backyard with tiny spoons and cups. Like it's playdoh.

Yes, I take it out to the backyard for the scooping part. Being outdoors helps with the dry-heaving.

27 comments:

That is good times.I remember waaay back to 2001 when my hubby and traveled to Nepal with a mass of teenagers on a mission trip. I'm pretty sure out of our team of 50 people, 45 of us had a "friend" at some point. My husband was pretty traumatized to hand his "sample" to the sweet little Nepali lady at the window in the clinic, knowing she was going to peek at it under a microscope. (there was no little magic window in the bathrooms there, where you put your goods on a shelf and then magically it goes to the lab. You had to physically hand it over, fresh from the bathroom). I can't imagine having to do that with 4 kids, and then still get them to understand it's not okay to play with your poo.

Oh, but do you have to do the one that you have to MIX the stuff in the vial??? And the directions say something to the effect of "using enclosed scoop (which looked like a miniature spork) obtain one scoop from the CENTER of the INSIDE of the sample, and one scoop from the surface of each end. Deposit in container, and mix with enclosed liquid until there are NO solid pieces left." Yeah..uhuh...that about DID ME IN!!!! And, the 10 year old boy it was being collected from was NOT TOO HAPPY!

I am not sure if collecting it from the plastic tub is better or worse than scraping it out of a diaper and needing more than one diaper to fill each container...it was nearly 2 years ago and the notion still makes my stomach churn. Good luck and here's hoping it's a parasite.

So can anyone help out? Run the sample to the lab? If the lab can tell he's got a parasite, do you still have to do it all 5 days, or can they just prescribe whatever medicine is needed? Maybe something will work out that you won't have to schlepp the kids back and forth for a piece of sh*t every day.

Good Luck. Hope Kembe feels better.

P.S. Who diagnoses leukemia with a stool sample? I thought it was an overgrowth of white blood cells...parasites, yes I get that, but the other options...not so much.

I'm sure it is a parasite (or a few). Colin came home from Haiti with some friends too--Scabies, Giardia, Anemia, and Strep.But hey, at least you get to ROLL like a "G" to St. Joe's in 'yo mad minivan. (I'll bet those auto-sliding doors are coming in handy, eh?)

I wish I lived close enough to help you out! Not that my life is easy, I too, have 4 kids. I just feel your pain!!! I can always send my soon to be 17 year old to help you in the summer. She needs community service hours for school. Keep the faith and know that you have support, even if I live all the way over here in DC. Thanks for sharing your life stories. I truly look forward to sitting down in the evening after all of mine are asleep and reading your blog. Hang in there, Marnie

Yeah. We brought our daughter home in December of 2007 and we had to do the poop scoop. She gave us a look that said, "You white people are crazy. I want to go back to Haiti now." Then she turned her back on me and walked regally out the bathroom door. We never spoke about it again, even though I had to scoop several more times. She just refused to look at me or talk about it anymore. :)